Wild deer surge wreaks havoc in Australia

Victoria is home to Australia’s largest feral deer population. However, landowners and environmental groups are calling on the state government to roll back protections for wild deer because the soaring numbers are causing damage to local agriculture and the environment. Guardian September 19 news.

Jordan Crook, from the National Parks Association of Victoria, said classifying deer as pests alongside foxes, rabbits and pigs would bring Victoria in line with the rest of Australia. “Ferile deer are spreading rapidly across the state, destroying vital habitats for endangered species such as rainforests and alpine wetlands, severely impacting agricultural production and becoming a road hazard. It is time to treat feral deer as an invasive species, invest in effective scientific control and eradicate populations where possible,” Crook said.

Currently, deer are protected alongside other native species under the Wildlife Act, making it difficult for those who want to control their numbers. In a letter to the agriculture and environment department, more than 100 leading landowners, environmental organisations and academics are calling for deer to be reclassified from protected to pest. This would provide transparency in how their impacts are managed.

Dr Alex Maisey, an ecologist at La Trobe University, says feral deer are destroying temperate rainforests like Sherbrooke Forest in the Dandenong Ranges. Deer have destroyed more than 90% of the elm trees in some parts of Sherbrooke Forest by chewing on the bark and transmitting root rot fungi. The damage to tree canopies has left areas that are normally moist and shady dry.

Victoria’s wild deer population is one of the largest in Australia, according to the Invasive Species Council, with estimates ranging from the hundreds of thousands to more than a million. Hunters, meanwhile, killed an estimated 137,090 deer in 2023. Tom Guthrie, a sheep farmer in Victoria’s Grampians region, said the deer population was out of control. Deer are a huge loss to farmers, jumping fences with ease, chewing on rare plants, damaging vineyards and eating high-quality grapes.

However, the Australian Deer Association does not support changing the deer’s classification from wildlife to pest. A spokesperson for Environment Victoria said a state-wide deer management plan was underway and the current classification would not affect efforts to control them.